Maya Lyubenova Contributor -- Bulgaria

Maya Lyubenova was born in Plovdiv, where she
graduated from the English Language Schhol, later she studied English Philology
in Veliko Tarnova University. She is a teacher in Philip Kutev National School of Folk Arts – Kotel. Maya writes
poetry in English and Bulgarian, her free verse poetry, visual poems and haiku have been
published in many English magazines and online ezines like Frogpond, The
World Haiku Review, Shamrock Haiku Journal, Moonset, Haigaonline, Sketchbook- a
Journal for Eastern and Western Short Forms, 3Lights Gallery, Gean Tree Press,
etc. In the April issue 2009 of the World Haiga Contest, the Jury named Maya
LyubenovaWHA Master Haiga Artist, and in May 2009 her
haiku won the first prize in the Second National Haiku Contest in Bulgaria .
Flecks of Blue - her bilingual haiku book is going to be published by the end
of March.

A 300,000-year-old cave. Its total length is 1km, and the length of the
improved route is 350m. In this cave you can find the biggest cascade of
waterfalls on the Balkan peninsula, with a total height of 60m.
According to the legend this is the place where Orpheus went down into
the kingdom of the specters, in search of his beloved Euridica.

The Devil's Throat
cave

The Devil's Throat cave is
situated in the
heart of the Rodopi Mountains in the south of Bulgaria and is one of the
one
hundred Bulgarian national tourist places of interest (the letter A on
the
map: HERE

This
cave is named
The Devil's Throat (Dyavolsko garlo) because of a legend. The Trigradska
River
flows into the cave and, as it seemed, nothing thrown into the river
ever
appeared again so the native people called it The Devil's Throat. The
cave is
being related with another legend as well - it is believed that Orpheus
went
down to the Kingdom of Hades exactly through here.

You can enter
the
cave a 150 m long artificial tunnel. The first hall is impressive in
size, so
everyone is impressed and feels small. From this point a winding and
steep
concrete path leads up to the natural entrance of the cave. This cave
contains
numerous underground waterfalls, among them the second highest
underground
waterfall in any tourist cave of the world, which is 42 m high.

The
Devil's Throat is also famous for its animal species. A bat colony,
which spends
the winter in this cave, is the biggest colony of long-winged bats not
only n
Bulgaria but in this part of the Balkan Peninsula.

Not only this
cave,
but the whole area with its gorges and natural bridges is recognized as
national
landmark and is under special protection. Visitors can find excellent
accommodation conditions in the nearby town of Devin or if one prefers a
more
relaxing atmosphere the picturesque village of they can stay in one of
the many
guest houses in Trigrad-a nearby village.